Jim Chanos Has Started To Cash In On His Hottest Short Of 2014

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Jim Chanos, the prominent
short-seller, said Tuesday he has lightened up on some of his
bets against Brazil, saying most of the country's downside risk
is priced in after the sharp selloff over the past two months.

"Yes, we are still short but we've taken some profits," Chanos
said, speaking at a Reuters summit. "I think we'd be crazy not
to."

Brazilian stocks have been hammered over worries about the
country's presidential election, which incumbent Dilma Rousseff
narrowly won on Sunday.

Her victory sent shares plunging as investors fretted about the
leftist president.

Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index has slid more than 18
percent from early September through its close on Monday. The
index is heavily weighted toward miner Vale and state-run oil
company Petrobras.

"I think a lot of it is priced in already now" in Latin America's
biggest economy, he said to Reuters.

"I wouldn't be jumping wholeheartedly into the Brazil (short)
trade here," he said. Nevertheless, he added that he remains
short on "a lot of things in Brazil."

Chanos, who specializes in making money when stock prices decline
and first cemented his reputation as a short seller with bets
against Enron, is the founder of Kynikos Associates.

Chanos has previously spoken about shorting Petrobras and Vale.
Both stocks fell sharply on Monday, the first trading day after
Rousseff's victory.

Petrobras, which has also been hurt by a corruption scandal and
falling global oil prices, dropped 12 percent on Monday. On
Tuesday, those shares were last up 3 percent.

Vale, which exports heavily to China, saw its shares fall about 4
percent on Monday. On Tuesday, its shares were last down 0.1
percent.